Chesapeake Legacy (Tools and Traditions)

In the years since Larry Chowning’s book, Harvesting the Chesapeake: Tools and Traditions, was published, the author has fielded many questions from readers about why he didn’t include a particular fishery or tradition in his collection. Chowning answers these questions in this second volume relating to the fisheries in his continuing effort to document the heritage of the Chesapeake Bay. “The truth of the matter is,” he confesses in his preface, “I like most watermen and I like what they stand for. I appreciate their tradition and their struggle to survive in an occupation that does not fit well in today’s fast-paced urban society. Chesapeake Bay watermen are a carryover from earlier days when people had to be self-sufficient just to take care of their basic needs.” It’s easy to share this appreciation for those who make their living on or around the water when reading this volume. It is a treasure trove of little-known gems about life in the Chesapeake region: tales from the days of fishing under sail, reminiscences from women who survived in the waterman’s world, recipes for salting herring and cooking muskrat, descriptions of distinctive fishing vessels from bygone eras and their modern equivalents, and even an account of a very special tradition—the harvesting of human souls through baptism by immersion!